5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confronting him publicly. Perhaps his response indicates that he repented. If so, his repentance was too late.
"In its rise to power the Babylonian Empire had conquered Jerusalem, taken its inhabitants into captivity, looted its beautiful temple, and completely destroyed the city. Yet this empire was to have as its last official act the honoring of one of these captives who by divine revelation predicted not only the downfall of Babylon but the course of the times of the Gentiles until the Son of man should come from heaven. Man may have the first word, but God will have the last word."189
5:30 Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus, the Babylonian Chronicles, and Cyrus (on the Cyrus Cylinder) all described the fall of Babylon in writings that have remained to the present day.190Isaiah and Jeremiah had predicted Babylon's fall (Isa. 13:17-22; 21:1-10; 47:1-5; Jer. 51:33-58). The Persians diverted the water from the Euphrates River that flowed south through Babylon into an ancient lake located to the north. This allowed them to walk into the city on the river bed and scale the undefended walls that flanked the river.191Herodotus pictured Babylon's fall as follows.
"Hereupon the Persians who had been left for the purpose at Babylon by the river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus got into the town. Had the Babylonians been appraised of what Cyrus was about, or had they noticed their danger, they would never have allowed the Persians to enter the city, but would have destroyed them utterly; for they would have made fast all the street-gates which gave upon the river, and mounting upon the walls along both sides of the stream, would so have caught the enemy as it werein a trap. But, as it was, the Persians came upon them by surprise and took the city. Owing to the vast size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as the residents at Babylon declare), long after the outer portions of the town were taken, knew nothing of what had chanced, but as they were engaged in a festival, continued dancing and revelling until they learnt the capture but too certainly."192
"The downfall of Babylon is in type the downfall of the unbelieving world [cf. Rev. 17-18]. In many respects, modern civilization is much like ancient Babylon, resplendent with its monuments of architectural triumph, as secure as human hands and ingenuity could make it, and yet defenseless against the judgment of God at the proper hour. Contemporary civilization is similar to ancient Babylon in that it has much to foster human pride but little to provide human security. Much as Babylon fell on the sixteenth day of Tishri (Oc. 11 or 12) 539 B.C., as indicated in the Nabonidus Chronicle,193so the world will be overtaken by disaster when the day of the Lord comes (1 Th 5:1-3 [cf. Ps. 2:4-6; Rev. 19:15-16]). The disaster of the world, however, does not overtake the child of God; Daniel survives the purge and emerges triumphant as one of the presidents of the new kingdom in chapter 6."194
The record of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel is the story of an overbearing king who experienced temporary judgment, but the story of Belshazzar is one of a sacrilegious king who suffered permanent judgment. Xenophon also recorded Belshazzar's death. The night of revelry that had become a night of revelation now turned into a night of retribution.195
"Historically, Belshazzar perhaps fell because he could not handle a political crisis; but more profoundly, as Daniel sees it, he fell because of his irresponsibility before God . . ."196
5:31 Belshazzar suffered execution that very night, and Darius the Mede became the ruler of Babylonia (cf. 2:21). The writer introduced Darius in 5:31, which is the first verse of chapter 6 in the Hebrew Bible, and he is the prominent king in chapter 6.
"The references to Darius the Mede in the book of Daniel have long been recognized as providing the most serious historical problem in the book."197
Critics including Rowley claim that history allows no room for a person by this name. However, Archer suggested that "Darius"may have been a title of honor in the Persian Empire as "Caesar"was in the Roman Empire or, I might add, "Pharaoh"was in Egypt.198If this was so, "Darius"could refer to another man known in history by another name or names. The most likely possibility seems to me to have been Cyrus.199This would account most naturally for the fact that Daniel referred to Darius as "king"in chapter 6. Furthermore it would have been very unusual for a subordinate of Cyrus to divide the whole empire into 120 satrapies (v. 1). Darius was probably called "the Mede"because he was of Median descent (9:1).
Another possibility is that Darius is another name for Gubaru (Gobryas), a ruler of Babylon under Cyrus.200
"In his dealings with his Babylonian subjects, Cyrus was king of Babylon, king of lands.' . . . But it was Gobryas the satrap who represented the royal authority after the king's [i.e., Cyrus'] departure [from Babylon]."201
This view distinguishes Gubaru from Ugbaru, the governor of Gutium and Persian commander who led the assault against Babylon. A third view is that Ugbaru and Gubaru are different spellings of the same man's name.202
"But the syllable GU is written quite differently from UG in Akkadian cuneiform."203
A fourth view equates Darius the Mede with Cambyses, Cyrus' son, who ruled Persia from about 530 to 522 B.C.204Darius the Mede was definitely not the same person as Darius the Great (Darius I) who was much younger and ruled Persia from 521-486 B.C.
"It must be emphasized that there is no established fact which contradicts a person by the name of Darius the Mede reigning over Babylon if Darius is an alternate name for a known ruler."205
"This chapter illustrates the involvement of king and kingdom in one destiny. Belshazzar's blatant disrespect for the Most High God was all of a piece with the national character, indeed with our human condition, as it is depicted in Psalm 90. Though human days are numbered (verse 10), few number them for themselves and get a heart of wisdom' (verse 12). Belshazzar in this chapter presents a vivid picture of the fool, the practising [sic] atheist, who at the end can only brazen it out with the help of alcohol which blots out the stark reality."206
"The whole chapter is an instructive symbolic assessment of the perils and limits, the sources and responsibilities, of power in human affairs."207
